


In the Bookshop

by KillHitlerAgain



Category: Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Gen, This is dumb I'm sorry, and i didn't proofread because i'm embarrassed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-13
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2020-06-27 16:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19794223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KillHitlerAgain/pseuds/KillHitlerAgain
Summary: Adam pays a visit to a certain bookshop in Soho.





	In the Bookshop

**Author's Note:**

> At the end of the book, it mentions that when Adam fixed up the bookshop, he filled it with books that he, personally, liked. Which I think is adorable and I thought hey, what if he sometimes goes to the bookshop to read and talk to Aziraphale?

This time last year, Aziraphale's book shop in Soho had been filled with old books of prophecy, old bibles, and old manuscripts thought lost to time. Now, however, it was not. Since last Sunday, the shop had been filled with all sorts of books you'd think an 11-year-old boy ought to enjoy; Books about aliens, and wood carving, and the like. Aziraphale, despite what some might think, wasn't totally broken up by this. He had no use for the books of prophecy anymore, and while he did miss his classics and the bibles, the new books were also all first editions, signed by their authors, as the old ones had been. And that was the most important thing. Besides, he supposed it was about time to try something new.

Sitting in the front room of the book shop, nose deep in a book, was Adam. He had Dog with him, as well, curled up by his foot and deep in a dream about chasing rabbits. Adam knew Aziraphale likely didn't want animals in his store, but he thought he'd surely make an exception for Dog, since he was always so well behaved. (At least, until Adam told him not to be.)

A door opened and closed in the back of the store, and Aziraphale walked out from the back room.

"I'm very sorry, but we're not open right now, so I'm going to have to—" The angel began, but stopped as his eyes settled on the boy sitting in the chair.

"Oh, Master Adam!" Aziraphale exclaimed, surprised at seeing him here, all the way in London, without at the very least calling ahead.

He then became very confused.

"How did you get here?" He asked. It was a long way to Soho from Tadfield, and surely a boy couldn't make the journey alone. Unless...

"I have ways to get places." Adam replied, not looking up from his book.

Aziraphale surmised that he must not have gotten rid of his powers, after all. He had thought that the boy would have wanted to be fully human now, after everything that happened, but he supposed that children, even highly wise and intelligent ones, wouldn't give up power so easily in exchange for normality.

Adam found a stopping point in his book, and set a bookmark down in the pages.

"I thought I'd hop by to read some. I hope that's alright with you."

He looked down at Dog, who was stretching after being awoken from his nap.

"And I brought Dog with me. He won't mess anything up, I promise."

"Of course you can stop by to read!" Aziraphale smiled, "I'm normally quite protective of my books, but of course, you're the one who restored the bookshop, so I'd be awfully rude of me to refuse you."

His smile trailed off, and he looked down at the hellhound, who was now staring up at him, intently. The angel instinctively yelped.

"Oh, and, um, hello..."

"Dog." Adam told him.

"Ah, yes, Dog." Aziraphale slowly held out a shaky hand towards the mongrel.

Dog looked up at him expectantly, his tail wagging and his tongue lolling.

"It's okay. He isn't going to hurt you. He just wants to be pet." Adam pet the dog's back in demonstration.

Aziraphale looked at him and nodded, giving him a nervous smile.

"Yes, yes." He said shakily and patted Dog lightly on the head. "Good dog."

He quickly retracted his hand and wiped it on his shirt. Dog stopped wagging his tail and tilted his head, clearly disappointed.

"Anyway, um," Aziraphale started, "I was wondering what it was you were doing here?"

"What do you mean?" Adam gave him a puzzled expression.

"Well, what I mean is, can't you simply read books at your house? I'd assume that if you can put them here, you can make another copy appear on your bookshelf." Not that Aziraphale didn't want him here, of course, but wouldn't it be more convenient for the boy to simply read at home?

"The way I see it, if I do that, then my parents would be wondering where I got them. And since they're already looking for reasons I ought to be in trouble, they're likely to think I'd stolen."

"But they wouldn't object to you being here?"

"They would if they knew, but it's a lot easier to hide it when I can always just tell them that I was somewhere they didn't look."

Adam looked back down at his book, and Aziraphale took that as on opportunity to grab some hot cocoa for the both of them. When he got back from the kitchen and set the drinks down on the table, however, he noticed that Adam was still starting down at the books cover, and made no move to open it.

The angel sat down next to him.

"Is there something wrong?" The look of a child deep in thought about something upsetting wasn't unfamiliar to him. He was an angel, after all, and what good would an angel be if he couldn't even tell when something was wrong?

Adam looked up at him as if this was the question he wanted him to ask.

"Well, see, I know I did the right thing making them all forget, but that doesn't stop it from feeling bad that I can't talk to any of my friends about it. But I knew that you and Crowley hadn't forgot about it, and so that's why I came here."

Aziraphale grinned. The child was upset, and thought to come to _him_ to talk to.

"Ah, so you would like to talk about it?" He clasped his hands together. "Well, I—"

"No." Adam shook his head. "I don't want to talk about it. I just want to know that I _can_ talk about it if I want to. It's freeing, you see. Makes me feel less like I'm keeping a secret."

The angel didn't quite understand this, but he supposed that if that's what the boy wanted, he was happy to help. So, he smiled, leaned back in the chair with his drink in his hands.

And they both spent the next few hours in silence.

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: 9/17/19 - Finally went through and edited the fic.


End file.
